A former basketball coach in West Linn is accusing Brigham Baker, the athletic director at West Linn High School, and the West Linn-Wilsonville School District of racial discrimination.
Babak Zolfaghari-Azar, the former assistant coach and junior varsity coach for West Linn (referred to as Coach Z in the court filing), filed a complaint and a request for a jury trial in federal court on Wednesday. He claimed that the school district had chosen not to extend his contract with the basketball program due to racial discrimination.
A request for comment from Baker and the West Linn-Wilsonville School District was not immediately answered.
Zolfaghari-Azar is a first-generation Iranian-American, the court record states. When Robert Key was hired as the Lions’ head coach in 2022, he started working at West Linn High School. At Grant High School, he had previously served as Key’s assistant coach.
According to the lawsuit, Key, who is Black, had his contract with West Linn not renewed at the end of the 2023–24 season, and the assistant coaching positions were reopened following the head coach’s departure.
Zolfaghari-Azar’s complaint claims that white parents’ comments, emails, and communications to the West Linn-Wilsonville School District about their children’s lack of playtime were a contributing factor in the school’s decision to not bring Key back. They implied that Coach Key and Coach Z were to blame for allowing students of color to play or favoring non-white students because of their race.
Since then, West Linn has appointed Travis Myers as head coach and Ryan Amundson as assistant coach, both of whom are white, to take Kay and Zolfaghari-Azar’s places.
According to the complaint, Coach Z was fired because of his affiliation with Coach Key, which included the fact that they were both people of color and exposed Coach Z to comparable discriminatory stereotypes, presumptions, and decision-making. Coach Z was fired and denied further employment by the WLWSD on the grounds of race and national origin, while a white coach with less experience and fewer accomplishments was suggested and hired instead.
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Whitney Stark, J. Ashlee Albies, and Maya Rinta of Albies & Stark LLC are Zolfaghari-Azar’s attorneys.
The statements made by Zolfaghari-Azar are similar to those made in the spring when it was announced that Key would not be returning as head coach at West Linn High School.
During his two seasons as coach, Key guided the Lions to a 42-14 overall record. West Linn’s boys basketball team made headlines across the country in the 2022–2023 season by defeating national powerhouses in the Les Schwab Invitational. After losing to Tualatin in the title game, they ultimately placed second in the state that year.
Key’s contract was not extended by the West Linn-Wilsonville School District at the conclusion of the 2023–24 season, despite that accomplishment.
Key said in May that the district fired him due to pressure from parents who were motivated by race.
In May, Key’s employment lawyer, Paul Buchanan, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that some parents were worried about the team’s overabundance of Black children.
Andrew Kilstrom, a spokesman for the West Linn-Wilsonville School District, denied the accusations when they were made.
Key threatened to sue the school system, but no lawsuit was ever brought.
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–Nik Streng investigates Oregon high school athletics. You may contact him at @NikStreng or [email protected].
